Rubber heel of detachable layers



April 1935- L. s. SARKADI ET AL RUBBER HEEL 0 Filed Sept. 12, 1955 F DETACHABLE LAYERS Mp 0401555 (00MB;

,4, ATTO VNEY Patented Apr. 28, 1936 UNITED STATES RUBBER HEEL OF DETACHABLE LAYERS Leo S. Sarkadi and Charles E. Crowley, New York, N. Y.

Application September 12, 1933, Serial No. 689,056

'5 Claims.

This invention relates to rubber heels and has for its main object to provide a rubber heel which may be restored to its attractive, intact appearance after wear without removing and exchanging the whole of the rubber heel, as it is usual at present.

Another object of our invention is to provide a rubber heel which is made of a plurality of horizontal layers attached to one another in a reliable manner, but still so that each may be easily removed from the one below thereof when it is worn.

Still a further object of our invention is to provide a rubber heel made of a plurality of layers wherein the individual layers will have elements to connect them securely together and to the stationary base or heel proper of the shoe in such a manner that after any layer is worn out of shape, said respective top layer may be removed with comparative facility, its securing means to the layers below and to the heel proper of the shoe being severable without affecting the securing of the other layers.

Still further objects of our invention will be apparent as the specification of the same proceeds, and among others, we may mention; to provide a rubber heel, as characterized hereinbefore, which will be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, adapted to be attached to shoes of the present design with means used at present for attaching rubber heels, and the attaching or the removal of the layers of which will be done with ease and facility.

In the drawing forming a part of this specifi- 35 cation and accompanying the same:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of our invention, while 7 Fig. 2 is a partly front elevation, partly se'ctional view thereof, showing a portion of the heel 40 of the shoe to which the same is applied;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged partly elevational, partly sectional front view of a modification of our novel rubber heel, while Figs. 4 and 5 are a perspective View of one layer of another modification of our rubber heel, and a front elevation of a rubber heel built according to this second modification, respectively.

Referring now .to the drawing more closely, by characters of reference, and particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the numeral l0 indicates our rubber heel in general being built of a plurality of individual layers II, the built up heel and its individual layers showing the general outline used for such rubber heels at present. The rubber 55 heel is secured to the heel proper 12 of the shoe portion of which is indicated in Fig. 2 as being broken away from the shoe. The lowermost layer 13 has a plurality of apertures I4 therethrough, through which may be applied the securing means 15, as nails, screws and the like, penetrating into the body of the heel 12, while their heads l6 may rest in the enlarged and beveled upper openings H of the respective apertures l4. Each of the layers above the bottom layer [3 has apertures I-8 registering with the aperture ll in said bottom layer so that when the heel is built up, as will be explained presently, the securing means l5 may be applied through said registering apertures I8. The lowermost of the removable layers in our novel rubber heel, in the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2, will be secured to the permanently fastened bottom layer l3 by a layer 99 of glue, cement or the like, of an appropriate character, and of such a nature that said two layers will be secured together with reasonable safety against accidental dislocation, while in case of need the upper layer may be easily caught and torn off from the layer below the same. The successive layers ll are similarly glued or cemented to the one below each, respectively.

It is well known that rubber heels, when worn for a length of time, in some cases of a very short duration, will show pronounced wear, particularly at their rear top portions, as indicated by the arrows 20. Such wear and the resulting unevenness cause the same to lose its attractive appearance and usually result in the removal of the whole heel and the replacing of the same by a new one. It will be understood that this procedure, which is the usual one today, leads to great inefficiency and waste, and is causing such an expense that people of moderate means cannot aiford to remove their rubber heels until they become very worn and quite unseemly and they also are put to an expense which is out of proportion to their means.

Now, with our improved rubber heel, in case the topmost layer H becomes worn and unseemly at anyplace or portion thereof, the same may be pried open at any point from the layer next below the same, and then torn 01f therefrom and thrown away, the cemented or-glued layer l9 being adapted to such an operation, as has been pointed out hereinbefore. It is obvious that the rubber heel will again look quite new and unworn, and may be worn for quite a length of time before the new top layer thereof will have to be removed in a similar manner. This operation may be repeated several times, according to how many such removable layers are built into the rubber heel and when this process continues till the lowermost and permanently fastened layer I3 is reached, then the whole remaining part of the rubber heel may be removed, as it is done at present, and a new one put into its place.

It will be seen that our rubber heel provides an efficient and inexpensive means whereby rubber heels may be kept in an unworn condition and still be worn for a long time. The only requirement is to make the layers comparatively thin so that the removal of a few of them will not greatly affect the height of the heel, though this is not absolutely essential, either, since rubber heels may be worn with quite a variation in height, the main consideration being that the heels will appear new and unused at all times without additional expense.

In Fig. 3, a modification of our invention is illustrated, in which the numeral |2 again indicates the top of the heel of a shoe, the rest of the shoe being broken away. The lowermost layer 2| of the rubber heel again has countersunk apertures 22 through which the securing means 23, in the figure shown as screws, may be applied into the heel I2. Layers 24 of glue or cement may be applied here also between the individual layers 25 of the rubber heel, though said glue or cement in this modification is not absolutely necessary, as will be seen presently, it only helps to keep the layers attached to one another on their entire adjacent surfaces, and for this purpose very little adhesive action will be sufiicient. Each layer 25 in this modification also has a number of apertures 26, the respective apertures in the individual layers being in registering relation with one another and gradually increasing in diameters. In this modification, however, each layer is continued in a thin extension 21, said extensions preferably being integral with the respective layers, their material being thinned down, and said extensions in every layer being applied around every aperture 25 and hanging down therein into the respective countersunk opening of the apertures 22 in the bottom layer 2 wherein the ends of said extensions Zl are brought into overlapping relations with one another underneath the head 23a of the respective screw 23, as shown, so that the single screw 23 may secure not only the bottom layer 2| to the heel l2 of the shoe but every superposed individual layer 25, as well.

In this modification, also, when the respective top layer of the rubber heel is worn to an unseemly extent, the same may be torn off and the respective extensions 27 of said layer severed in line with the outer surface of the next layer below the same. This process may be continued while the shoe is worn until the lowermost removable layer of the rubber heel is used up, whereupon screws 23 are removed and a new rubber heel, built according to this invention, may be put in place.

Still a further modification of our invention is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5. In this modification the rubber heel I is built up of a plurality of layers 30 which will be removably secured one on top of the other, while the lowermost layer 3| of the rubber heel will be secured to the permanent heel l2 of the shoe, as described hereinbefore, and as shown by the nails 32, in the countersunk apertures 33 of the layer 3|. Each layer 30, except the uppermost one, is preferably provided with two dovetailed, longitudinal slots 34 in its upper surface, and two corresponding dovetailed, longitudinal extensions or projections 35 on its lower surface, and the securing of the layers to one another is effected by simply sliding the dovetailed projections 35 of any layer into the correspondingly shaped slots 34 of the layer next below the same. In order to prevent a forward loosening or entire freeing itself of any layer, the upper surface of each layer also shows a cylindrical hole or depression 36 into which may fit a similar cylindrical projection or pin 31 in the lower surface of the layer next above. Said projections 31 and the corresponding holes 36 are preferably arranged near the forward edges 38 of the respective layers and after the upper layer has been nearly pushed home in the slots of the layer below, the front end of it will be somewhat lifted, an operation which the resiliency of the material will permit, the projecting pin 31 bent somewhat forwardly so that the same may ride on the upper surface of the layer below until it finds the hole 36 into which said pin 31 may snap. It will be seen that in this manner each layer is firmly secured to the one below the same, is also prevented from lateral movements in any direction and still the same may be easily removed when the said layeris worn to an undesired extent.

The topmost layer 39 in this modification is shown in Fig. as detached from the rest of the heel just before attaching the same to the layer below, and it will show only the projections 35 and the pin 3'! in its lower surface, and its upper surface 40 will be left without any holes, slots or depressions, as described hereinbefore, with the exception of possible projecting designs, usual on rubber heels for better gripping of the ground.

The embodiments of our invention and. particularly the one illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 are adapted to be made up of two layers only, one the stationary bottom layer, as described hereinbefore, which may carry only one layer there over. In the case of the embodiment shown in Figs. 4 and 5, a two layers construction thereof will constitute a so-called refill resilient heel wherein the top layer when worn to an undue extent may be thrownaway and a new one pushed in place to replace the same.

It is obvious that by our device we provided a rubber heel which may be kept appearing as new for a long time with a small expense. Our rubber heel may also be replaced in its entirety, or the top layer thereof, only particularly in its form illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 with a fraction of the cost of a new whole heel.

It will be understood that changes and variations may be made in the parts and combinations of our device and we hereby reserve all our rights to any and all such changes as are within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim as new, is:

1. A resilient heel, comprising a plurality of superposed layers, each being of resilient material; means to permanently secure the lowermost layer to the heel of the shoe, .and means on the upper layers to removably secure them to said lowermost layer.

2. A resilient heel, comprising a plurality of superposed layers; meansto permanently secure the lowermost layer to the heel of the shoe, and means on the upper layers to removably secure them to said lowermost layer, said means to secure the upper layers to said lowermost layer comprising extensions on said upper layers, each being secured to said lowermost layer.

3. A resilient. heel, comprising a plurality of superposed layers; means to permanently secure the lowermost layer to the heel of the shoe; and means on the upper layers to removably secure them to said lowermost layer, said means to secure said upper layers to said lowermost layer comprising independent extensions on said upper layers descending down through registering apertures in said upper layers to said lowermost layer and being secured thereto.

4. A resilient heel, comprising a plurality of superposed layers; means to permanently secure the lowermost layer to the heel of the shoe, and means on the upper layers to removably secure them to said lowermost layer, said means to secure said upper layers to said lowermost layer comprising independent extensions on said upper layers descending down through registering apertures in said upper layers to said lowermost layer, the lower ends of said extensions being brought into superposed relation and secured together to said lowermost layer.

5. A resilient heel comprising a plurality of layers; depressions in the lowermost layer; a nail device through each depression to permanently secure said lowermost layer to the heel of the shoe, the upper layers having registering apertures therein also registering with the respective depressions in the lowermost layer; independent extensions on said upper layers descending through said apertures in the upper layers into the respective depressions in said lowermost layer, and being secured by the heads of said nails therein to said lowermost layer and t one another.

LEO S. SARKADI. CHARLES E. CROWLEY. 

